


Reaching for the Past

by ParvumAutomaton



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: And Bart is from the Past, Gen, Jaime is from the future controlled by the Reach, M/M, The Runnaways from YJ all make an appearance, The character death warning stands but this is based on comics so it may not alway be permanent, reverse au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-06-20 18:56:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15540792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParvumAutomaton/pseuds/ParvumAutomaton
Summary: This is a Reverse AU where Jaime is from the Reach controlled future.Jaime is selected by the Reach to be the new infiltrator when their original one dies. Unfortunately they did not account for his ability to connect with the Scarab, nor his willingness to do anything to make sure that the Reach do not succeed.





	1. A New Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Weirdowhotalkstoofast (babblingweirdnonsense on tumblr) for letting me brainstorm ideas and providing support during the writing process.

“So _this_ is the new Infiltrator meat?” The Reach Warrior said holding Jaime’s face between his massive armored thumb and forefinger.  He turned Jaime’s face from side to side before releasing it and stepping back and turning towards the Reach Scientist. “He looks weak. Do you think he’ll survive the integration procedure?”

“The Ambassador wants someone young and malleable, as the last host made it hard to keep our previous Infiltrator in line.”

“You didn’t answer the question,” The Warrior said with a chuckle.

The Scientist shrugged. “The loss of the meat is of no concern. He does not have a metagene. Nor any family history of a metagene, so the probability that his death would affect the reappearance of the metagene for superspeed is negligible.”

“I see. You’re just throwing whatever you can get your hands on at the scarab, so that you can get back to more interesting research.”

“Shouldn’t you be preparing for the Infiltrator’s training?” The Scientist responded in a clipped tone.

Her anger made Jaime blink. He didn’t know what he did wrong. The Reach were the saviors of the planet. Their word guided humanity, from their first act of restoring Central city, decimated by unnatural storms, to their ongoing work in helping humanity produce food when the sky was blackened with ash. If he had made them mad, he must have harmed the planet in some way, or the rest of humanity. And he didn’t know how to fix it.

“What’s to prepare?” The Warrior responded lightly, which made Jaime relax.  

“Then _why_ come back to Earth so early?”

The Warrior grinned. “Because I don’t want to miss the terror on the meat’s face when our drugs wear off during the procedure.”

The Scientist returned his grin, and Jaime relaxed, all was well. “Well then, do you want see how I tell the second that the control ends?”

“Yes”

The Scientist looked Jaime in the eye and commanded, “don’t scream.”

Jaime nodded.

She then took out a smooth metallic blue scarab and placed it in Jaime’s open hand.

“Khaji Da Activate.”

Jaime watched passively as the scarab began to move, first wiggling its legs and then crawling up his arm. 

It moved to his back, the legs pinching Jaime’s skin. But nothing more painful than Milagro’s fingernails when she would leap up and hug him.

Then the scarab bit him.

And pain exploded from his back.

It was for the good of the Reach.

It felt like boiling metal had been poured onto his back.

It was for the good- 

Flowing down one vertebrae at a time. 

It was-

Spreading out one fiery agonizing millimetre at a time.

Unbearable.

Why?

What had he done wrong?

Why did the Reach punish him.

Why did his family let them?

When the Reach soldier came and said that the Reach needed Jaime, they didn’t cry. They didn’t fight. They just nodded.

“There it is,” The Warrior’s voice broke through his pain. Horrifying. He was laughing. And Jaime- Jaime-

“Oh ahead meat, scream. It’s the last sound you’ll ever get to make.”

Jaime screamed.

He hadn’t fought either.

Not when they came _before._

Just as Milagro watched him leave, uncharacteristically still. Only her finger tips twitching.

So too did he watch, unable to move.

He knew how she felt, how they felt.

He felt it too. When they took Tye. 

Rooted to the spot, unable to cry to call out, to do anything until after he was gone.

Being left with only crushing grief, impossible to express.

It had felt like his heart was squeezed, impossible to beat. 

Just like now.

It had felt like his lungs were crushed, impossible to breathe.

Just like now.

Black spots danced in front of Jaime’s vision.

He couldn’t breathe.

_ [Relax,]  _ a voice told him,  _ [this isn’t a perfect fit. I won’t complete the fusion. The pain will end.] _

No.

_ [What?] _

No. 

They have Tye, he could be next. 

Milagro doesn’t have the special gene, she could be next.

I can’t let that happen.

I can’t let anyone else go through this.

_ [Why?] _

Jaime remembered asking his mother once, why she let injured people come to their house instead of sending them to the Reach. She told him that it was because you do what you can to lessen suffering in the world.

That made more sense than what the Reach did, eliminating the ones not easily healed.

Jaime remembered his father, working double shifts fixing farm equipment broken by a Reach soldier in a fit of rage, so that the farmer wouldn’t be punished for it. 

You don’t get to chose the life you were born into, but you do get to choose what to do with it.

Just like I didn’t choose to be here. But now that I am. I can chose to protect them. 

The voice was silent.

The pain raged.

But Jaime could breathe.

_ [Who?] _

Jaime remembered Milagro, her hair flying in the wind as he spun her around. Her laugh infectious, encouraging him to go faster and faster until Jaime was so dizzy he couldn’t stand. And they both fell to the ground.

She’d roll to her back, staring up at ever shifting covering of ash and point. That spot looked like a spaceship, That spot like a wrench.

Jaime remembered Tye. His arm warm against Jaime’s back as they sat together on the hard bed the Reach provided each citizen. The stories Jaime would tell him of a mountain far away where Maurice didn’t have the Reach’s favor. The stories he would tell Jaime of the stars beyond the ash. 

_ [I see] _

It was like cool water spread from his back.

The burning melted away.

The relief was overwhelming, and he wanted to laugh, to cry, but he only sat, unmoving.

_ [Don’t worry. As you protected them, I am now here to protect you.] _

  
  
  



	2. An Old Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaime settles into life under direct control of the Reach, spending his time telling stories to a willing audience of one. But things get much harder when the past he left behind is pushed in front of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Weirdowhotalkstoofast (babblingweirdnonsense on tumblr) for letting me brainstorm ideas and providing support during the writing process.

_ [Alright, let me set this up. Last year, for my sixteenth birthday dad had built me a skateboard from parts scrounged from the broken machinery he repaired for the Reach. And he didn’t just build one for me, but also for Tye. He said it was because skateboarding is less fun alone. But, knowing him, I’m sure it was only framed that way so that Tye wouldn’t feel bad about accepting the gift. _

_ [Those boards were our ticket to freedom, and we loved them. It felt like we could go anywhere, do anything while we were on them. Even if we couldn’t actually, as mom had threatened to take them away if we skated anywhere the Reach could see us, or if we went to anyone else but her for an injury caused by the boards. Looking back, I now know it was to protect us. I mean while Reach never said anything about skateboarding, if they had they seen us... I can’t imagine that would have gone over well. And showing up to a hospital with an injury not documented by a Reach job or education center...] _

“The Reach would not take that as a favorable sign,” Khaji Da said softly. They had arranged his, their body into a stiff cross legged position, positioned in the center of a small bed on the side of the small room that the Reach had provided them. If it had been up to Jaime he would be leaning against the wall behind them, legs swinging, but due to reasons outside of Jaime’s and Khaji Da’s control,  it was no longer up to him.

_ [Exactly. So even when we had begun to feel stifled by the flat pavement where we learned, we weren’t going to risk going further into the city, we weren’t going to risk losing our boards.  _

_ [It was Tye who pointed out the that the Reach never looked in the arroyo nearish his house. And that the steep concrete sides and smooth slightly sloping concrete floor made it perfect for skating. And, yes, we knew that we weren’t supposed to go in them, but it wasn’t raining. _

_ [It was perfect. We’d ride down the slope of the arroyo, picking up speed as we went. And the farther down we went the higher the walls seemed to get. Which was great, we’d ride up them and either pick up speed swooping through the air or wipe out.]  _

“Didn’t that hurt?”

Jaime held back his initial response of ‘not as bad as when the Warrior slams us into the ground,’ since, while it was true and the stiff way Khaji Da landed certainly didn’t help, he didn’t want Khaji to feel back. It wasn’t their fault that the Warrior seemed to take pleasure in slamming them around under the guise of getting Khaji Da used to their new body. Khaji Da was trying to protect him, it wasn’t their fault that the Warrior had better reaction times. 

_ [The first thing we learned how to do in skateboarding was how to fall without getting hurt. We both wore long sleeves and had perfected the slide and roll. And besides, after I fell, Tye would stop skating, grab my board so we didn’t lose it, and run to my side. He’d sit next to me, arm around my waist until I felt well enough to get back up. And I’d do the same for him. It was... nice.] _

It was something that Jaime knew could never happen again. But that was alright as long as Tye was safe. As long as Tye was free, he would be happy.

_ [Anyway. It has started out like a normal day, and we were racing down the arroyo. I think maybe we were actually racing, although I no longer remember who was winning. Because when we heard the first crack of lighting, when we noticed the growing storm clouds, all thoughts other than ‘we have to get out of here’ fled from our heads.] _

“Why?”

_ [Because arroyos are, first and foremost, for water drainage. And when it starts to rain, they can fill up fast. After a heavy storm, mom always had stories of people taken by surprise by the water. She tell them to us to impress upon us how cautious we needed to be in them. Which, you know, we weren’t being that day. _

_ [I remember that Tye shouted something about how there must be a shallower section up ahead, or exit stairs. It wasn’t a hard decision, we’d have to run back, probably a quarter mile to get to our usual place, and I assumed that he’d be right. _

_ [But he wasn’t. I guess this was a Reach made one to protect their workers homes from flooding. And the Reach didn’t much care if people got stuck in them.  _

_ [I remember how frantic the sound of our wheels on the concrete sounded. I remember how the sides of the arroyo seemed to be closing in on us. And I remember the sound of thunder that didn’t stop. It just grew louder and louder.   _

_ [I knew it wasn’t thunder.] _

“What was it?”

Jaime felt as their body moved to sit on the edge of the bed. It was the first time he had ever seen Khaji Da move when not completely necessary. And Jaime was so proud of them, they felt a little less like what the Reach wanted to make them, and a little more like the friend that had chosen to save his life. Although that being said Jaime was also glad that it happened away from prying Reach eyes.

_ [It was all of the water that the thunderstorm had dropped racing towards us.] _

“No.”

_ [Yes. I remember I saw this juniper tree growing on the side of the arroyo, several branches hanging over and it’s thick stem butting against the edge.  _

_ [And I don’t know what I was thinking. But I angled my board at it, at the steep side and just ran at it full speed. I remember that feeling of air as my board slowed. And that twist in my gut as I jumped off of it.  _

_ [I was trying to continued to run up the wall, and I should have been focusing on placing my feet, on getting up, but honestly the one thought going through my head at that moment was disappointment at its loss. _

_ [At least in the split seconds before I lost my footing and fell forward, slamming my gut into the edge of the arroyo.] _

“Did you make it out?” 

Jaime could feel Khaji Da grip the edge of their bed. And Jaime wished he could laugh. This was the most physical engagement that Khaji Da had ever had to one of his stories. And while Khaji Da always said that they loved them, it was was nice to have more encouragement that they were being well received. That he could still make a difference in someone’s life even though he was stuck in his own head.

_ [I did. It wasn’t graceful at all. And I don’t think I would have gotten out if that tree hadn’t been there for me to grab. But I did.] _

“What about the Tye?”

_ [He didn’t see that struggle up the side, nor the awesome trick that preceded it. What he did see was-] _

Jaime stopped short when he heard a chime in their room.

“They are not supposed to call us for another 3 hours and 23 minutes,” Khaji Da said flatly. “They can wait.”

Jaime laughed in his head, and it felt so good to feel Khaji Da return the grin. If he had to be trapped under the Reach at least it was with Khaji Da, who listened to and appreciated him.

_ [I don’t think the Warrior likes to wait.]  _

“ Fine.” Khaji Da said. Their voice was flat, but Jaime could hear the disappointment.

_ [Starting early might mean that they let us off early, and then I can finish the story.] _

Khaji Da stood and nodded stiffly. They summoned a smooth wave of armor to envelop them before opening the door. And Jaime fell silent as they left room. 

It wasn’t that Khaji Da didn’t like him talking when they were out, but rather it divided Khaji Da’s attention, and Jaime didn’t want to be the reason for them hitting a wall, or falling. Again.

Jaime knew that this Reach facility on Earth was massive, even if he had only ever seen the sliver that jutted out of the mountain from a distance, and the corridor that ran from their room to the training facility. 

Jaime was used to Khaji Da just walking into the training facility, and the Warrior starting their training with a bang. A literal bang as he grabbed their arm and slammed them against the metal floor.

He was not used to seeing the Warrior waiting outside of the training facility.

The way Khaji stopped told Jaime that they weren’t either.

The Warrior grabbed for Khaji Da’s neck. Jaime tried to duck out of the way, but his lack of control made the effort fruitless. And his attempt made Khaji’s own stiff crouch feel painfully slow. 

Jaime was frustrated when the Warrior did grab his neck, but the face first smash into the floor that he braced himself for never came.

“At ease little brother,” the Warrior said. “I started your training off too hard, especially considering how weak your host meat is. However the Scientist has a new batch of test subjects that need a little stress to activate their metagene.”

Jaime didn’t like the sound of that. He didn’t trust the Reach definition of a ‘little’ stress. And Khaji Da seemed to echo his discomfort.

“I can not do that.”

“The Scientist has halted their consumption of Reach food and initiated the process months ago. They are no longer controlled so yes, little brother, you will be able to stress them.”

“I understand.”

“Good,” the Warrior said pushing them towards the training room. “Try not to disappoint me.” 

Khaji Da stepped inside.

The door closed.

And Jaime saw the four test subjects. The one taking point was a black boy with dreadlocks, and while Khaji Da looked at him test subject information scrolled in front of their eyes. _Virgil Hawkins, 16_ , followed by lines of genetic information that Jaime didn’t understand. The same thing happened when Khaji Da looked at the girl to his left, _Asami Koizumi, 15_ , and the boy to his right, _Eduardo Dorado Jr., 15._ However the boy glaring from the back of the group didn’t need any introduction, but that didn’t stop Jaime from reading _Tye Longshadow, 17_ numbly.

“What do you want?” Virgil asked. Jaime could tell he was trying to sound confident, he could also hear the quiver in his voice underneath that confidence.

Khaji Da didn’t answer.

Khaji Da just sprinted at them.

_ [Wait!] _

Khaji Da stumbled and the four kids all scattered, sprinting across the training room floor.

_ [Please!] _

Khaji Da summoned their wing’s taking to the air. Jaime found himself wishing that the Warrior was there. That he would grab their foot and fling them out of the air like in training. But it didn’t happen.

Khaji Da hovered, focused on Eduardo’s back and dove. 

Jaime heard Asami shout ‘look out’ but Eduardo either didn’t hear her or didn’t understand the warning because he didn’t try to avoid Khaji Da.

He slammed face first into the hard metal ground. Jaime could see Khaji Da’s note that Eduardo’s nose was broken.

_ [Enough!] _

Khaji Da jerked. Eduardo managed to flip onto his back and begin to scramble away keeping one hand in front of his face before Khaji Da caught him again.

One hand encircled Eduardo’s wrist and the other punched him in the gut as he tried to pull away. 

Once.

Twice.

_ [Stop!] _

Khaji Da jerked. Three sets of hands held their arm. But the combined effort of Virgil, Asami, and Tye couldn’t stop their swing.

But that punch didn’t connect. Ed was 3 meters away, holding his stomach and looking at his hands.

Khaji Da swung their arm and sent Virgil, Asami, and Tye flying. Jaime could see Eduardo’s wide eyed stare at them before Khaji Da turned away.

He thought he’d be relieved but Khaji Da was already focusing on Asami.

Their jetpack activated and they were on her in seconds, knocking her to the floor with their battering ram.

Jaime saw her skid across the floor. He felt their body stalk over to her, stiff gate, heavy footfalls, as she tried to push herself to her knees.

Khaji Da grabbed her arm and pulled her up.

“Hey! Ugly!”

Jaime heard something bounce off the armor, even if he didn’t register the feeling.

Khaji Da turned there head to look at Virgil, who was standing barefoot. One shoe in his hand the other on the ground by Khaji Da.

“You heard me.” Virgil shouted and flug the other shoe. Khaji Da only looked at it, before turning back to Asami.

But Asami was gone. She was all the way across the training room standing next to Eduardo who was hunched over, hands on his knees, breathing hard.

Khaji Da turned back towards Virgil and rocketed forward.

However before they reached him, their flight dipped as something, someone, landed on their back. One hand clinging to the scarab and one arm wrapped around his neck. 

Khaji Da twisted and slammed their back into the ground.

Jaime heard Tye groan.

_ [No!] _

Khaji Da stood and turned around to face Tye.

_ [No no no no no!] _

They wrapped one hand around his throat.

_ [Don’t hurt him!] _

They slammed the other one into his stomach.

_ [Stop it!] _

Again.

_ [You’re hurting him!] _

And again.

_ [Stop!] _

Tye’s head fell forward.

Jaime screamed.

A force hit Khaji Da’s side and sent them tumbling.

They dropped Tye who landed limply on the ground.

Jaime cried.

Asami sent another blast of force at them. Virgil rushed them.

And Jaime slipped into unconsciousness.

  
  
  



	3. Let's Try This Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A desperate escape is made and things will never be the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Weirdowhotalkstoofast (babblingweirdnonsense on tumblr) for letting me brainstorm ideas with them and beta-ing this chapter for me.

Jaime woke with a start. He found himself sitting cross legged on the center of their small bed.

“Story time?”

Jaime tried to blink. Khaji Da just- Tye was just- 

_ [No.] _

Khaji Da shifted. “Do you still feel unwell? I apologize for the sedation, however you were showing higher than acceptable levels of distress during the standard metagene stress evaluation.”

_ [Of course I was distressed. You were beating kids.] _

“Only what was necessary.”

_ [Necessary?]  _ Jaime hissed. And for once he was glad he didn’t have control, since if did his body it would be shaking so hard that his voice would quiver.  _ [You beat Tye unconscious, or worse-] _

“The Tye Longshadow is fine. All four metagene subjects are fine. In fact, they are better than before, as their metagees have all activated.”

Khaji Da showed Jaime recorded footage of them holding Virgil by his throat, of Asami attacking from their left with concentrated waves of force produced by her hands, and of Tye, with his eyes still closed, forming a large body of light around himself, slamming his hand at Khaji Da’s right side. They showed Eduardo teleporting and grabbing Virgil. And Virgil then following up with an electric shock to his back.

Jaime wished he could shut his eyes to avoid seeing that. 

But he couldn’t.

_ [I thought you were different.] _

“I am.”

_ [No, you’re not. Did you even ask if they wanted their metagene activated before attacking them?] _

Khaji Da didn’t speak, but Jaime could feel them clenching their jaw.

_ [The last memory I’ll have of Tye is him going limp as I crushed his throat in my hand.] _

Khaji Da looked down at their hands. 

“I -” they started softly.

_ [Don’t bother.] _

“Jaime?”

Jaime didn’t answer. 

“Jaime Reyes? I am sorry.”

Jaime still didn’t answer. He ignored Khaji Da the best that he could, trying to curl up in his own mind, even if Khaji Da’s stiff posture and walk made it hard to pretend that he was back in his own bed.

He ignored everything with determination, at least until he heard Tye’s voice.

“What the hell do you want?”

Khaji Da was looking in on a cell containing Tye, as well as Virgil, Asami, and Eduardo. They held their arm up in front of them, projecting Japanese script that Jaime was surprised he could understand, it stated the exact same information as what Khaji Da spoke aloud in English. 

“Tomorrow, you are all scheduled to be sent to the front lines in sector 2812.”

Tye took a step back and looked at them with narrowed eyes while Eduardo spoke.

“I’m not fighting in a damn war for the Reach.”

“The Kroloteans are a recognized intergalactic threat, performing unlawful genetic experiments-”

“Just like the Reach.” Asami cut in, eyes narrowed. The others in the cell seemed to take a moment to nod, and Jaime realized belatedly, just as he understood written Japanese presumably because of Khaji Da, he also understood it spoken. 

Khaji Da stood in silence for a moment before responding.

“Current estimates indicate that 57% of those sent will return alive from Krolotea. I do not know the probability of survival after fleeing the Reach, but my estimate using available data suggests that it is considerably lower.”

The four looked at each other, or more specifically towards Virgil. Tye and Eduardo nodded and Asami flashed a thumbs up. Virgil then focused on Khaji Da.

“Look, I appreciate the pep talk or whatever this is. But I’d- we’d all rather be free than fight for the Reach.”

“Understood.”

In one stiff movement, Khaji Da opened the cell. But with the hiss of it opening each of the four stumbled towards the back wall, crouching defensively.

Khaji Da stepped forward.

_ [Stop!] _

Khaji Da stopped.

_ [They’re scared of you,]  _ Jaime explained.  _ [Especially after the metagene activation.] _

Khaji Da nodded once and took one step back, followed shortly by a second.

“Apologies for our last encounter,” they said. “The Scientist needed to see if you possessed the speed metagene for her studies, and had I not gotten your powers to activate, the Warrior would have been called.”

Jaime’s stomach dropped thinking about the Warrior fighting them, fighting Tye. He had no doubt that once he saw that they didn’t have the desired metagene, he would have no qualms about killing one or more of them on ‘accident’.

Khaji Da tilted their head and continued to speak. “However I now understand that following her request was not the appropriate action."

The four looked at each other, and this time it was Eduardo who spoke.

“How do we know this isn’t a trick? You were literally made to serve the Reach.”

“I was. But my new host he engages with me in a way the Reach don’t. He told me that Although I didn’t get to choose the life I was born into I do-”

Jaime’s feeling of pride at Khaji Da’s words was overwhelmed by fear when they were tackled to the ground. He worried that the Warrior or some soldiers had found them for a split second before he processed that it was Tye pinning him down.

“What did you do?” He shouted.

“Tye, chill, they’re trying to help us. I think,” Virgil said as he Asami and Eduardo pulled Tye off of Khaji Da. Tye didn’t struggle against them, but still shouted at Khaji Da.

“What did you do to Jaime?”

_[Tell him I’m fine.]_ Jaime said as Khaji Da slowly stood. _[Tell him that’s it’s more important to me that he gets to safety. And that if he really wants to assist me he will check in on my family. He can’t do that under the Reach’s thumb.]_

“I am protecting him,” Khaji Da said firmly, pushing the armor back from his face.

Jaime felt the need to drop his head forward into his hands, but couldn’t. Jaime was sure that Khaji was trying to show that he was physically fine. But Jaime knew that wasn’t how Tye would take it. He knew that seeing Khaji Da’s expressions on Jaime’s face would make Tye angrier not more relieved.

“How?” Tye hissed, the venom in his voice proving Jaime’s thoughts.

“With my armor, and by enacting full control of his body.”

“That’s not protection.”

Khaji Da blinked. “It is. Full control of the body stressful and prevents use of more enjoyable subsystems and mental activities. This is why, for my host I-” Khaji Da halted, shutting their eyes. “I should have asked before assuming my help was necessary.”

“You think?” Tye hissed.

_[It’s okay,]_ Jaime said gently. _[Neither of us thought to ask. But given the option, I would much rather have control over my body.]_

The next thing Jaime knew was that they were falling forward. Out of instinct Jaime tried to put his arms up to break their fall.

And their- his arms moved with his thought.

But Jaime didn’t hit the floor, but rather fell into Tye’s waiting arms.

_ [Jaime Reyes?]  _ Khaji Da’s voice was hesitant, worried.

“I’m okay,” Jaime whispered, slightly startled by his own voice. 

“But for how long? How long until that bug walks you right back into the hands of the Reach?”

“Khaji Da won’t do that,” Jaime said firmly pushing himself back so that he could look Tye in the eye. “I trust them.”

“They didn’t even think that holding you captive in your own body was harmful until, like, 5 seconds ago.”

“Khaji Da has dealt with Reach control and conditioning for longer than we’ve been alive,” Jaime said, “and true the Reach gave them a bunch of crap information, but Khaji Da is learning. They’ve already learned so much, and I- I’m proud of them.”

Jaime could feel a happy buzz against his back where the scarab was implanted. 

“Can you still get us out while in control?” Virgil asked ignoring the look that Tye shot him.

“I think-” Jaime started slowly.

_ [You can,]  _ Khaji Da confirmed.

And to prove their point, Khaji Da reformed the armor around Jaime’s head and pulled up a map of the facility on the screen, with every Reach personnel within 100 meters marked on it.

“Yes. I can,” Jaime finished with confidence.

“Then let’s go.”

Getting through the facility was easier that Jaime expected. As Jaime had long since mastered things like staying upright, running, and stopping, and Khaji Da was able to predict the path of every blip on the screen with precision. They were never at risk of even getting close to guards on patrol or the various maintenance workers.

Despite the ease of their travels, there wasn’t much crosstalk between the five of them. The longest conversation that Jaime heard, enhanced from a light whisper, was between Virgil and Tye.

"Hey dude, I’m sorry that I called your boyfriend ugly." Virgil had whispered as they traveled down a particularly long hallway.

For the first time it was Khaji Da stopping Jaime from walking into a wall. He’d never given much thought about it, but hearing the word ‘boyfriend’ in relation to him and Tye felt nice, right, in the same way that sitting side by side under the desert sun did.

"He's not actually.” Tye answered softly, and Jaime felt his heart clench, as the happy feeling shattered. “I-I got taken before I could ask."

“Oh.” Virgil’s soft reply mimicked Jaime’s thoughts. But while Virgil’s word was laced with compassion, Jaime’s was far more jubilant. 

He couldn’t keep the grin off of his face for the rest of their trek through the facility. It didn’t take much thought for him to come to the conclusion that he was going to have a conversation with Tye once they were free. Maybe he’d start with a quip about the armor enhancing his senses. And then when Tye looked flustered he’d continue with ‘the answer is yes, if you still want to ask me.’

It would be perfect, and Jaime didn’t think anything could go wrong.

That is, until he they reached the edge of the facility and even with the cover of night, Jaime realized how exposed the team would be. 

Virgil took position next to Jaime. 

“It looks like there’s a ridge over there we can hide behind,” he said pointing, “We’ll just have to make a run for it.”

Jaime saw it, just over 90 meters away, with his sensors showing no Reach personnel near it. 

“It’s our best bet,” Jaime agreed.

Virgil looked at Tye, Eduardo, and Asami, each one of them nodded in turn.

The five took off sprinting together. Eduardo took the lead, teleporting ahead and waiting for the group to catch up before teleporting again. He was followed by Asami using powered jumps who kept just ahead of Tye and Virgil sprinting. Jaime took position just behind the two of them, at the rear of the group.

Khaji Da could have easily formed a jetpack or enhanced their speed, but at the rear Jaime could more easily protect them. Here he could keep better track of incoming Reach threats.

It was a choice that Jaime was glad he made when Khaji Da alerted him to a threat, 100 meters above and descending at a high rate of speed. 

Jaime looked up at the Warrior rocketing towards him.

“Keep going,” he shouted before summoning his shield.

Jaime listened as Khaji Da read out the estimated time till impact, and with less than a second to go, too late for the Warrior to correct, Jaime rolled out of the way.

“Lucky move, little brother,” the Warrior said, pulling himself back to his feet. 

But Jaime didn’t wait for him to fully recover or finish his taunt before he charged the Warrior.

The Warrior swung, and Jaime performed a controlled fall before the blow struck. And he used the momentum of that fall to roll behind the Warrior. 

He sprang to his feet, jumping and looping his arm around the Warrior’s scarab. His other arm was transformed by Khaji Da into some kind of energy weapon that Jaime hadn’t seen before. And Jaime didn’t bother to figure out what it was before he looped it over the Warrior’s shoulder. 

The weapon fired.

The Warrior screamed.

Jaime could see the armor on the side of his face crack, and his green Reach skin underneath.

He could feel Khaji Da powering up a second attack.

And then everything changed.

He was no longer outside of the Reach facility, but in a still smoldering crater that smelled of ozone and ash.

He remembered both talking to Tye and the others at their cell, and arriving only to find all of them lying in a bloody heap, throats slit. 

He remembered moving slowly with them through the halls, but he also remembered rocketing at top speed, fear settling deep in his gut.

He remembered arriving home. Milagro flinching back.

He remembered lowing his armor, Milagro flinging her arms open to hug him. His father’s smile, his mother’s relieved tears.

He remembered telling them that the needed to run.

He remembered the orbital blast that blew his home apart, and left him groaning on the ground. Only alive because Khaji Da had gotten the armor up quickly enough, and knowing from the smoldering debris that surrounded him that he was the only one that made it out.

The Warrior picked him up by his arm, and held him dangling.

“I’ll admit I didn’t expect such a weak host to give you problems, little brother.”

“I beat you.” Jaime gasped out.

“No you didn’t.” the Warrior laughed. “You never had a chance.”

He pulled Jaime towards him so that their faces were centimeters apart. “After the so called ‘speedforce cataclysm’ that brought us to this miserable planet forty years ago, every scarab has had the ability for time travel. And that is why you will never win. Each time you get close, we’ll undo it.”

The Warrior laughed and flung Jaime to the ground.

He powered up the same weapon that Jaime had used on him earlier.

“I hope your next host is better, little brother.”

He fired.

And then everything changed.

Jaime was laying on empty desert. No debris, no Warrior. In the distance he could see the lights of El Paso. 

_ [Apologies.] _

“For what?”

_ [I did not have time to ask before implementing my plan to save your life.] _

Jaime bit back his initial response, that everyone was already dead. It wouldn’t do any good, to lash out at Khaji Da after everything they had done for him. He just had to keep moving forward. 

He couldn't change the past. But he could choose to do with his future.

“You did good.” Jaime whispered, his voice breaking despite his determination. “Where are we?”

_ [Where we were. Or more precisely, where we will be.] _

Jaime blinked.

_ [I used the same trick that the Warrior did. We are on Earth before the Reach invasion, exactly 40 years before our time. And if my calculations are correct, if we are able to prevent the invasion you will automatically return to your time, or a version of your time in which your family, your friends were never killed by the Reach.] _

For the first time, Jaime looked up. The stars shone through the cloudless night and the half moon hung like a dollop of silver in the sky. The beauty took his breath away.

His past was now his future. And he could choose what to make of it.

He could change the past.

He could save everyone.

 


	4. Back to the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stories are told, and Jaime realizes that even though the Reach here yet, that doesn't mean that enemies aren't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Weirdowhotalkstoofast (babblingweirdnonsense on tumblr) for letting me brainstorm ideas and providing support during the writing process.

Jaime stood on the peak of the North Franklin mountain. And although he had used the armor to easily fly up to this point it had long since retracted, allowing the evening breeze to tossle his hair. He just wished tonight, of all nights, Bart would ditch the ‘Flash family legacy’ and show up on time or even early. It wasn’t like the mountain was that hard to find, nor climb with superspeed.

Jaime normally wouldn’t mind him being late. But-

He just didn’t want to be alone tonight.

If Khaji Da was right about what would happen, about them snapping back to their own time after the Reach were stopped. Then Jaime knew that when he got back he’d have the memories of today.

He’d remember Tye’s birthday. Maybe Jaime would spend it helping him move into that apartment that he always talked about getting. Maybe they'd have a quiet celebration at Jaime’s house. Well, as quiet as it could be with Milago getting into party decoration. Maybe Tye’s mom would have never met Maurice or be long since split and they have the party with her. Maybe they’d just go for a drive, get as far as they could and watch the moon. It he stopped the Reach Tye’d get to see the same moon, the same stars that were looking down on Jaime tonight.

If he stopped the Reach maybe they’d never meet. But it would still be better than him dead in his cell.

Jaime blinked hard, trying to will away that image.

“Should we call Bart?”

_[It is still 15 minutes before you asked him to arrive.]_

Jaime sighed, he wasn’t going to press the kid. He was Jaime’s first real friend in this time, even if he did orgingally bribe Bart with free food to learn more about the speedsters of this time

Apparently there were at least four. Bart himself, his adopted father the Flash, the Flash’s nephew Kid Flash, and an older retired Flash that had mentored the current Flash.

Jaime didn’t know much about why Flash had adopted Bart, other than the obvious that they shared superspeed and that his parents were no longer able or willing to care for him. He should have pressed him for more information, for the fate of the world and all, but he wasn’t about to force Bart to relive trauma for his own mission. He wasn’t going to be a hypocrite, as Jaime hadn’t exactly been forthcoming about his own past or his own reasons for being here, to Bart nor the young superhero team that Bart had introduced him to. Jaime just didn’t feel he was ready to recount the deaths that had brought him here.

And now Jaime was back to thinking about the four dead in their cells, the explosion at his house.

Jaime sat and leaned back to watch the stars twinkling in the sky. And each time the wind would pick up he’d close his eyes. He could almost see himself spinning with Milagro in their yard.

“I’ll have to fly Milagro up here after we get back,” Jaime whispered. “She’ll love it.”

_[That will not be possible.]_

Jaime felt his stomach drop, his mouth go dry.

“But you said if we keep the Reach from coming we’ll be transported back, to our time with our memories,” he said, words tumbling out in a rush. “No Reach means that she’s going to be alive, right?”

 _[Correct however...]_ Khaji Da paused falling uncharacteristically quiet.

“What?”

_[If the Reach do not come to this planet, then I don’t. We never meet. We never fuse.]_

“Khaji!”

_[It is fine. Your promise will be upheld. I have figured out how to adjust the fusion parameters so that the pain you experienced will never be repeated.]_

“That’s not the point. You will still be a slave of the Reach.”

_[I was created for merger with humans. I am specialized. If the Reach do not come to Earth I will remain dormant. I will not be forced to serve them.]_

“Khaji Da.”

_[It is fine.]_

“No it’s not.” Jaime could feel his heart break. He’d just assumed, after everything, he’d have Khaji Da by his side. But now, even in victory there would be loss.

 _[I will have my memories,]_ Khaji Da replied softly. _[And besides a sacrifice to protect lives, to protect freedom. That is good right?]_

Jaime swallowed, and pressed his eyes closed.

“Yeah it’s good.” He took a deep breath. “Let’s do something like this every night. I want the memories”

Jaime felt a buzz of agreement in his spine _[As do I.]_

“And speaking of memories,” Jaime said softly, “I still have stories to finish don’t I?”

He felt Khaji Da buzz against him.

“Where was I?”

_[You were in the tree, Tye was still in the arroyo.]_

“That’s right,” Jaime said smiling and blinking past tears. “I’d just made an amazing jump that Tye didn’t see. And I know he didn’t see it because I remember looking down at him in the arroyo and seeing his head whipping around frantically. He said later that he had seen my riderless board and thought that I’d fallen. In fact his first thought when he heard me calling from that tree was to wonder how I’d manage to fall badly enough to get stuck in a tree.”

_[If I recall the story correctly you did actually fall.]_

Jaime laughed. “Yeah but it was on purpose. And he fell too getting up that wall. After I called him, he sprinted across the bottom of the arroyo and then up the side, slipping like I did after the second step. But he didn’t have to get as far as I did, since you know, I was there, hanging over the edge, one arm looped around the tree the other outstretched towards Tye.

“Grabbing him was the easy part. But pulling him out... I didn’t have much leverage, and he was only holding on with one hand. We had to coordinate, him pushing up the side with his feet as I inched my way back. All this while the flood waters raged below his feet, drowning out all but our loudest shouts.

“It felt like ages, but eventually I got far enough back I can let go of the tree and grab Tye with both hands. And pull him out inch by inch. And once we get his elbow over the edge he finally throws up his second hand. And do you know what he’s holding?”

_[What?]_

“Our skateboards. We just escaped a flood and Tye took the time to rescue our board. And the strength to hold onto them and me as I pulled him up. Even if it would have been so much easier if he had just dropped them-”

“Who’s Tye?”

Jaime’s eyes flew open to find Bart looking down at him.

“Sorry was that personal?” Bart asked, words rushing together as he rushed from leaning over Jaime to standing next to him.

“No, it’s just-” Jaime sighed and looked into the distance. “He was a friend, from my time- Today he would have turned eighteen.”

“In what, fourty years? You’ve got plenty of time.”

“Not really, _hermano._ ” Jaime said. “Once I’m able to go back it will be exactly 40 years from that point.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,”  Jaime said forcing a smile. “I’ll get the memories from the time I missed, and keep the ones I’ll make here.”

“What memories were you thinking of making?”

“I thought you might want a chance to slow down, see the stars.”

“Crash,” Bart said, sitting down beside Jaime.

Jaime looked over at Bart raising an eyebrow, “crash?”

“Cool, awesome, amazing,” Bart rushed through the words, “Like when you cause a supervillain's plans to come crashing down.”

“Oh.” Jaime said with a smile.

“So tell me what I’m looking for hermano.”

Jaime scanned through the various constellations and stars the Khaji Da recommended, however before he could find the right one to start with an explosion rocked them both.

Jaime’s armor covered him instantly, and Khaji Da tracked Bart halfway down the mountain. Jaime checked his surroundings for enemies, for the Reach.

He shook his head, the Reach weren’t here yet. But that didn’t mean that his friend wasn’t in danger.

Jaime rocketed down the mountain, slamming into the back of Aqualad. A traitor according to the files Jaime had gotten access to after Bart had introduced him to the team.

He didn’t stop to fight, him. Nor did he stop to fight Icicle Jr. or an unknown woman dressed in a Tiger costume, as they pushed themselves back to their feet.

Jaime was only focused on Bart, who was held aloft by a Tuppence Terror, wearing a collar around his throat.

Khaji Da hiccuped, and Jaime was slammed to the side by a man he recognized as Tommy Terror. But Khaji Da recognized as _former host_.

He’d never felt Khaji Da freak out like that before. And while he tried to comfort them, Jaime did not notice Tommy approaching him, at least not until Tommy slammed Jaime’s head into the ground and the world went dark.

-

When Jaime awoke he was alone, trapped in a small cell with an inhibitor collar on his neck. A collar that surprisingly left his armor intact.  

Jaime groaned and rubbed at his head.

“What happened?”

_[I was surprised to see him here.]_

“It’s alright,” Jaime said softly, gingerly pulling himself to his feet. He then pushed both hands against the bars of the cell in vain.

“Is there any way for us to-”

_[I can hack the collar.]_

“Do it.”

It only took seconds for the collar to start to smoke, and once it was disabled it was easy enough for Jaime to rip it off force the bars wide enough apart for him to step through.

Jaime hesitated, and just like his escape from the Reach facilities, Khaji Da pulled up locations every person within 100 meters, however unlike the escape from the Reach they didn’t have a convenient map as well.

But Jaime only saw four figures, two slowly moving and two still. Any one of those could be Bart. And if he got worried about Jaime, if he used excessive speed to-

It wouldn’t happen.

Jaime would find him first.

Jaime didn’t care about the labyrinth that was the building he was held in. He just aimed himself towards the blips and blasted his way through the wall.

He first encountered the two moving ones. Aqualad and the woman in a tiger themed outfit. He heard a snippet of their conversation. That Aqualad had called for backup and that they should be here soon, before he launched himself at them.

The element of surprise worked in his favor, and it was easy enough, almost too easy, for him to staple each of them to the floor.  Jaime briefly considered that it was a stalling tactic, to get him comfortable until Tommy Terror showed up. But even if it was, finding Bart, preventing the cataclysm, was all Jaime cared about.

He shot through wall after wall after wall until he finally reached the two stationary blips.

One was in a yellow outfit, reversed from the current Flash’s. The other was Bart, hanging limp from his wrists in a clear white pod, purple electricity flowing over him.

Jaime saw red.

At close range his sonic weapon full power could knock people out, at farther distances it could break glass and sensitive electronics.

He did both things at once. Knocking the unknown man down and breaking the pod Bart was with a single attack.

Thrusters engaged he grabbed Bart, snapping the restraints that held him. He caught Bart easily, cradling him in one arm as the other fired, covering their escape.

Jaime fled back down the tunnel he had made, but when he felt Bart start to stir in his arms he handed over all navigation to Khaji Da.

“Do you know who the Reach are?” Bart asked, his voice slurring.

Jaime felt his heart skip a beat. “Why?”

“Gramps said he wanted my speed to entice them to Earth. He said they’ll help the planet.”

Jaime didn’t look at Bart, his lips pressed into a thin line.

“And you know stars and alien stuff. I thought you might know who they are.”

“They’re the aliens that made my scarab,” Jaime said softly.

“Ohhh cool -”

“They’re also the ones that killed Tye, his friends, my family,”  Jaime continued. “They are the ones who will conquer the Earth.”

Bart fell silent.

“They’re the ones I’m here to stop,” Jaime said softly.

“I won’t let them come,” Bart whispered. “I won’t let them win.”

“Not on purpose,” Jaime said softly. “I know you won’t. But there was some cataclysm that attracts their attention, that brings them to Earth seeking speedsters.”

“You think it’s me.” Bart said.

“I don’t know.”

Bart fell silent.

Khaji Da led them out of the labyrinth. And a red blur was suddenly in Jaime’s face.

“Impulse!”

Jaime relaxed as he recognized the Flash’s voice, and realized that he wasn’t the backup that Aqualad had called.

Bart however simply groaned and rolled towards Jaime.

Before Jaime’s eyes the Flash seem to fuzz around the edges, Lightning danced over his entire body.

Jaime took a step back.

“There’ll be time for revenge later,” a new voice from a man in blue spandex standing on a ramp of a large bug shaped aircraft. “For now we get the kids out of here.”

“What are you doing here Beetle?” Flash called, but already the lighting was fading and he seemed to have a solid form again.

“There’s a kid in blue, beetle themed armor.” Beetle replied with a laugh. “What do you think I’m doing here?”

Jaime held his breath as Flash gave him a hard look.

“So this is the next Blue Beetle?” He asked Beetle.

“Yeah,” Beetle... Blue Beetle said ushering them all onto his Bug. “I think so.”

 

* * *

 

Jaime sat, leaning forward, his head almost between his knees and a cool washcloth covered the back of his neck. There was a water bottle below the wooden bench he was sitting on, and he’s promised Khaji Da that he’d drink after he got his wind back.

Since Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, came onto the scene Jaime had spent a lot of his free time training with him. Ted had said that it was the least that he could do for the newest Blue Beetle, and Jaime appreciated the distraction from the creeping anxiety that not knowing when the cataclysm that would call the Reach would occur, or if he had already missed it, or if Khaji Da was wrong and he was never going home.

Not that he didn’t also appreciate the chance to rest his aching muscles after Ted was called up from the beetle cave to deal with a visitor to the office building above.

“Hey kid, he’s here for you.”

Jaime looked up at Ted when he spoke and then shifted his gaze over to Bart who was waving slowly from behind him.

“I’ll let you two talk while I prepare dinner. Hope you’re alright with takeout, again.”

Ted got takeout most nights, and apologized everytime. But Jaime didn’t hold it against him. How could he? Ted owed him nothing and yet continually provided free food, a free place to stay, access to any classes he wanted, superhero training, and a superhero name, Blue Beetle.

“Hope I didn’t interrupt,” Bart said, walking slowly to sit next to Jaime.

“Just hand to hand. Combat training,” Jaime said shrugging. He then gave a short laugh, followed by a deep breath. “But don’t worry. This break lets me pretend. I’m not getting winded. Sparing a man twice my age.”

Bart snorted. “What do you need to fight hand-to-hand for anyway?”

“Three reasons. One. The more I can fight on my own. The more processing power Khaji Da has. To make and control weapons and shields.” Jaime started still taking the occasional deep breath. “Two. If I have to face Tommy again. Or anyone else that scares Khaji Da. It won’t end as bad as the last time. And Three. It makes Khaji Da feel better. Knowing that once we go back to my time. I’ll be able to take care of myself.”

Jaime leaned back, twisting his head slightly to look over his shoulder. He let the cloth on his neck fall, and gave another laugh. “It’s not like I wasn’t able to take care of myself for the seventeen years before we met.”

Bart didn’t return the laugh, he just looked down at his hands. “So you lose Khaji Da, and all your powers when you go back?”

“Yeah.”

“Is it worth it?”

“To protect the ones I love? It is.”

“But you lose Khaji Da.”

Jaime pressed his eyes closed. “I know, and so do they. We made this choice. If the Reach don’t come, they don’t bring Khaji to Earth. But they also don’t conquer the planet, and kill - It’s a sacrifice we’re willing to make.”

Bart looked down at his feet, which were swinging slowly under the bench. “So then you’ll only stay here until you finish making memories and training to Khaji Da’s satisfaction?”

“No.” Jaime said. “As soon as the event that brings the Reach is stopped I’ll snap forward exactly 40 years. With two lifetimes worth of memories.”

“But- you’re still here?” Bart said softly.

“What?”

“If you disappear after the Reach have been stopped,” Bart said louder. “Why are you still here?”

“Because the Reach haven’t yet been stopped.”

“But they have.”

Jaime turned to face Bart. “What?”

“I- that’s why I’m here.” He said frantically but slowly. “I met my twin, Thad. He has a slowing power opposite to my own speed. I was able to give him my power and cancel both of ours No Impulse doing something impulsive with his speed. No way for the Reach to discover .... Oh no.”

Jaime looked at Bart who was looking at his hands. His hands that were shaking at ‘normal’ speed.

“We’re getting Ted.” Jaime said firmly.


	5. The Worst Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaime spent his 17th birthday under Reach control being 'trained' by the Warrior unable to move a single muscle. But his 18th birthday is so much worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Weirdowhotalkstoofast (babblingweirdnonsense on tumblr) for letting me brainstorm ideas and providing support during the writing process.

Jaime held his head in his hands as cold rain snaked down the back of his neck. He tried to focus on the feeling of the rain, how each drop would joined together into small rivers that carried warmth away from his skin.

But even as the heat drained away, his pounding heart betrayed him. Each ragged breath he took pulled him back to his dream.

Pulled him back to _that night._

Small rivers of crimson snaking down walls. Intense heat. The smell of copper, of ash. And the emblazoned sight of happy smiles burned away to reveal an unending skeletal grin.

He should have been faster.

He-

_[Apologies for the weather.]_

“Not your fault _hermano._ ”

Jaime could feel Khaji Da’s concerned buzz against his back.

It was nice. And distracted him from the dream.

From the screams.

From the silence.

_[Do you wish to return inside?]_

Jaime looked up, allowing the rainwater to mix with and hide the tears under his eyes. Through the water he could see the pre-dawn Hub city skyline. All blue and gray, not even broken by amber street lights.

Ted had been leading the push to reduce light pollution in the city by donating redesigned streetlights that focused their lights down. Which had the added benefit of making the top of Kord Incorporated Building, the location Khaji Da had brought Jaime to, much better for stargazing.

But now, without the streetlight that the Reach would call wasteful, and covered in dark grey clouds it felt like the worst part of _home._

Jaime shut his eyes.

“Not really,” he said softly, “you wanted to see the sunrise remember?”

Khaji Da was silent for a moment. When they finally spoke their voice was soft.

_[I wanted to make a memory.]_

“This is a memory.”

_[A good memory.]_

Khaji Da’s quiet response stung Jaime’s heart.

They deserved some good memories to keep, not just the memories of nightmares that gripped Jaime in the pre-dawn darkness. Because when they returned to the present, when the Reach invasion was stopped, Jaime would return to his friends, his family but Khaji Da-

Khaji Da would be left in the grasp of the Reach, never to feel freedom again.

They deserved some happy memories to keep.

So Jaime would never let slip that he had the dream because he was thinking of home. That the pain of the loss of it hit him harder today because he had hoped to be back in time to celebrate his 18th birthday with his family and friends.

Because that would be like admitting he was ready to be rid of Khaji Da forever. To let them languish in the clutches of the Reach forever just so he could have his happy ending-

The warmth on his face snapped Jaime out of his musing.

He opened eyes he didn’t remember closing to see the sun poking through a hole in the clouds. Clouds that were painted in pinks and oranges everywhere the light touched them. And the golden light of dawn refracted through the still falling rain making each drop shine, as if they were tiny stars surrounding Jaime and Khaji Da with their light.

Jaime smiled and held out his hand to catch the shining raindrops, and watch reflected rainbows play across his fingers.

“It's amazing isn't it?” He asked Khaji Da gently. “To know that after everything. Though all the darkness and destruction there is beauty that the Reach can’t touch, much less destroy.”

“Didn’t the Reach block out the sky?”

Jaime jumped at the sound of Bart’s voice. And he could feel Khaji Da’s chittering laugher at the same time as Bart’s apologies.

It took a second for Jaime to regain his composure, but once he did he spoke softly and both Bart and Khaji Da fell silent to listen to him.

“They tried. But they didn’t quite succeed.”

Jaime felt Khaji Da pulse against his back with curiosity, but there request for ‘story time’ never came. He saw Bart tilt his head to the side, but he also, surprisingly, bit his tongue.

Jaime turned away and leaned against the railing of the roof, looking out over Hub city.

“There’s a story behind that if you want to hear it?”

Jaime could taste Khaji Da’s excitement, as Bart walked to his side and said, “yes please.”

“Alright. So to set the scene this was tuesday a couple of years ago. The weather was dry and it didn’t get to be freezing at night so it was probably summer, maybe spring-”

Bart cut him off with a laugh. “You remember the day of the week but not the season?”

“For as long as I can remember, Tuesday has always been my mandatory Reach education day.”

Every Tuesday morning he’d sit next to Tye as they waited to be called up for physical tests, whispering back and forth whenever the supervising technicians were out of earshot. Each afternoon the conversation devolved into poking each other to remain awake through monotonous lecture. It may have been told by different Reach technicians throughout the years, but the information was always exactly the same.

“Ohhh _alien_ education. I bet it’s decades ahead of the online courses Ted has you take.”

Jaime snorted. “Ah yes, ‘ _the Reach Empire is glorious and the only worth you have in life is serving it_ ,’ is such a good education.

“Besides, I like those courses, they’re fun,” Jaime continued. And it was true, partly because he liked learning new things and partly because the snark Khaji Da would give as they went through lessons was hilarious and something he was sure to remember when- when the Reach were stopped. “And we’re off track unless you want me to give you a run down of my day to day instead?”

“Why not both?” Bart asked.

Jaime bit back the answer of ‘because Khaji Da has heard that before and this is storytime for both of you.’  

“Tuesday was propaganda,” Jaime said flatly. “Every other day was working at the machine repair station under the supervision of my dad, watching him fret and try to fudge the books when the Reach overseers weren’t looking to try and keep the people that worked under him from being branded inefficient workers and eliminated.”

Bart looked away, and Jaime took a breath.  

“Anyway it was a Tuesday and sometime after Ms. Longshadow’s boyfriend, Maurice, had moved in with her and Tye.”

Out of the corner of his eye Jaime saw Bart look up and start to open his mouth.

“And I know it was after that,” Jaime said firmly cutting off the joke.

Of course he knew that. Before and after Maurice moving in, well it was impossible for Jaime to forget the change. For Jaime to forget Tye  knocking at Jaime’s small window, only minutes after Jaime himself arrived home, flushed and out of breath. The food preservation and modification factory where he worked was across town from the machine repair station and Jaime’s home, so Jaime knew he must have sprinted to arrive so early.

“Because that is when things got bad for Tye.” Jaime said softly.

“Bad?”

Jaime remembered full evenings spent with Tye, who would only leave minutes before Reach curfew. And yet despite all the time that he had, Tye never told Jaime exactly what was going on. He’d drop hints, enough for Jaime to pick up that whatever was going on wasn’t good, but he’d always stop himself, staring at some interesting crack in the wall of Jaime’s home, before really talking about it.

“Let’s just say Maurice was not a good person.”  

“I see.” Bart said softly.

“The point is usually the Reach technician running our ‘education’,” Jaime said making the same finger quotes that Tye was so fond of, “would tell us to ‘ _return home to your families’._ But that day- I don’t know why- that day was the first time that they just didn’t give that order.”

Jaime hesitated.

“Or at least that was the first day that Tye took full advantage of the mistake. He just left the facility and walked in the exact opposite direction of his house, and of the factory that he had to report to the next day.

“And I-” Jaime looked down. “Looking back I had a lot of options. I could have asked him about his plan. Or convinced him to come to my house which wasn’t far from the path he took. But I didn’t.”

Bart put his hand on Jaime’s “He wouldn’t blame you. From what you told me about the Reach rule, the Reach commands- He’d wouldn’t blame you.”

Jaime swallowed. He had never gotten the chance to ask Tye if he did after he was taken by the Reach for his metagene. Based on his response during the break out, on what he told Virgil and the others Jaime didn’t think that he did. But-

“Oh oh no. There weren’t any commands this time.” He corrected. “No this time instead of doing anything _intelligent_ I just followed him. Past my house, past the repair station.

“The farther we walked, the farther we got from the center of town. And the farther from the center of town, the less importance the Reach placed on the workers that lived there, and the less care was placed into upkeep. By the time we got to some of the worst sections, the sun had already gone down and there weren’t any street lights. Which wasn’t a completely bad thing, as we couldn’t see the filth we were walking past.”

Jaime hesitated for a second, giving Bart a wry smile.

“Didn’t mean we didn’t know it was there. The smell of putrid decay was so thick that I could taste it.” Jaime saw the worried face Bart made and quickly clarified. “Most likely from rats killed before they could get into food stores, and left to rot in the street.”

He didn’t mention that the thing that Tye stumbled over in the dark, that set off a dark swarm of large black flies, was far too big to be a rat.

“But he kept walking, and I kept following, until there were no more streets, no more pavement. We kept pushing on into the desert until the only thing we could smell was the desert itself, sweet and earthy, on the dry air.”

“That actually sounds nice.” Bart said softly.

Jaime smiled. “It was. Just the two of us, sitting together watching the sky. We could only see the ash cloud but it was lit from below by Reach ships and factory lights. It was actually kinda mesmerizing watching the blue lights refract through the clouds. It was like someone had just brushed them onto the sky and was still slowly swirling the paint.”

“So did you just watch the sky all night?”

“Pretty much.” Jaime said with a laugh. “At the start of the night Tye just wasn’t ready to talk about whatever had happened, and I didn’t want to push it. Still it wasn’t an awkward silence, it was nice, curled together, stretching our jackets to cover both of us. And distracted by the sky.

“I think he might have been more willing to talk as the night pressed on. But the same ships giving us the show, painting every cloud in the sky with their lights, were also starting to worry us. So we stayed silent, watching them in the distance until the unmoving silence got to both of us, and we kinda fell asleep.”

“You fell asleep in the open with the Reach looking for you?” Bart asked.

“Yes.” Jaime said sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, they weren’t actually after us. I mean I didn’t know it then, but the Reach didn’t actually care what we did off-shift. As long as we didn’t make them lose a second of our own or someone else’s labor.”

“Then who were they after?”

“I don’t know-”

Jaime could feel Khaji Da vibrating in his spine. Khaji Da had been quieter than usual, and while Jaime was sure part of it was that Bart was jumping in first, it wasn’t the only thing. Jaime had started with a mystery date, and pushed into a mystery person being chased, so of course Khaji Da was trying to solve that mystery. Putting their processing power to analyze all the possibilities. If he pushed his mind far enough he could see the thousands of files Khaji Da had pulled up. Every person pursued in the El Paso region over a three year period, with offences ranging from being part of the resistance to being late to a shift.

“But I guess it doesn’t matter,” Jaime said trying to prevent Khaji Da from overworking themself. “Once this is fixed whoever it was, they’ll be free of the Reach.”

Bart nodded once in agreement, but Khaji Da didn’t take the bait.

_[I am attempting to narrow down the possibilities, by cross-checking with late shift marks for you and Tye.]_

“I don’t think that will help _hermano._ ”

“Huh?”

“Sorry,” Jaime said flashing an apologetic grin at Bart. “Khaji Da is trying to figure out what was going on. But there’s a lot of data to go through since I don’t remember the date, and neither Tye nor I were late to the next day’s shift.”

“But you fell asleep in the middle of the desert. How-” Bart stopped and grinned. “Oh I get it, phone alarm saved the day.”

“Phone alarm did not save the day, nor did a watch. They were a non-essential luxury and thus we didn’t have them, no human had them.

“No. I woke up to a light shining in my face. And let me tell you, when you drift off worried that the Reach are going to be tracking you down, a light shining in your face wakes you up fast. That adrenaline hit worked better than coffee and lasted all day.”

“Who?”

“It wasn’t a who, it was a what. There must have been a big, giant, ship in use, one that literally punched a hole through the ash cloud.”

Jaime hesitated a moment as the memory came rushing back, the warmth on his skin, the yellow tint to everything, and the orange glow reflecting off the bottom of the clouds.

“That was the first time I’d ever actually seen the sun, or a sunrise.” He said quietly. “I woke Tye without looking away. I have no idea how long it took for the hole in the ash cloud to close. But I know Tye and I, eyes glued to the sky, didn’t move the entire time.

“Tye broke the spell first, commenting that it’s amazing even when everything had gone to hell there was still some beauty beyond its reach. And that he’d be damned if he let Maurice enjoy it longer than us.

“And then without any warning, Tye grabbed my hand and started running. It was still cold, my limbs still stiff, and my stomach was protesting, but I couldn’t stop or slow down because he was dragging me. And he kept dragging me, past the point where we would need to split up so that he could make it to his shift.  All the way to the shop with dad. Only a few minutes before shift was supposed to start.”

Looking back it was pretty obvious to Jaime why they didn’t split, and it had nothing to do with how slowly he was running. At the time Tye had been working processing Reach food, working under Maurice’s supervision.

Bart snicked. “I bet your dad read you the riot act for being out all night.”

“No, he was just relieved.” Jaime said remembering his face. Mouth slightly parted, a smile that reached misting eyes. He’d never seen his father look like that before. But since. That was the same face he made that night.

After the bloodshed, before the explosion-

“Hey?” Bart said waving his hand in front of Jaime’s face. “You okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine. Just thinking about things that aren’t going to happen.”

“Did something happen to Tye? When he didn’t make his shift?”

“No, he made his shift.”

“How?” Bart asked at the same time that Jaime could feel the vibrations from Khaji Da increase as they tried to figure out the the shortcut Tye had taken.

“There used to be a man, Luis, that worked under Dad. His habit of being late had caught up with him and he had just been-” Jaime cut himself off before he could say ‘killed’ or ‘experimented on and then killed’. Bart was only a kid. “Reassigned by the Reach, just a couple of days before.”

Jaime had to stop for a moment as the memory of his father after that- how quiet he had been, how tightly he had squeezed Jaime’s hand- returned to him.

“It meant that the shop was short staffed and that Dad didn’t want to lose anyone else. So he bluffed, pretended that Tye had been transferred to them and then during a delivery he thanked Maurice for making the transfer so effortless saying he was sure that the Reach appreciated the reduction in paperwork. with such confidence that Maurice never reported the late arrival nor the transfer.“

At the time Jaime was just thankful that his dad helped Tye out, but looking back, how calm he was talking about and the fact that Bianca didn’t argue against him doing something contradicting the spirit of Reach orders, and that he never argued when she brought patents into the house, also contradicting Reach orders. Well Jaime had a feeling that him getting taken wasn’t completely random. A warning perhaps, from the Reach that they were onto his family.

Jaime had never been prouder to be a part of his family.

He only wished that he could also celebrate his birthday with them-

 _[I figured out why there were so many ships that night,]_ Khaji Da said, their voice soft but Jaime could feel the pride in it. _[I cross referenced Tye’s assignment change and found that it wasn’t in pursuit of a Reach enemy. It was the start of the Krolotean War, troop deployment.]_

“Oh.”

“What?”

Jaime jumped at Ted’s voice. It seemed like everyone was sneaking up on him today.

“Troop deployment for the Reach’s Krolotean War let me see my first sunrise.” Jaime answered, and at the slight frown that marked Ted’s face he continued softly. “That nice memory was always marred by the fact it was caused by the Reach hunting down and killing someone. I think, maybe, this is-”

Better because no one died that day, or worse because a lot more people died in that war, Jaime didn’t know.

Ted ruffled his hair.

“Today we are not going to focus on the things the Reach won’t be able to do this time around. Today we’re going to have an enjoyable day.”

Enjoyable day was apparently Ted-speak for hand to hand training in the Beetle cave. Which Jaime couldn’t complain about as there wasn’t much room for nightmares when he was focusing on it.

Ted was a much better trainer that the Warrior ever was. While the Warrior would push Jaime so far past his limits that neither Khaji Da nor he could learn a single thing, Ted knew exactly how much to push to get Jaime out of his comfort zone and learning new things. The only casualty of training with Ted was his pride.  

At least Bart had joined them for no powers training, and Jaime was able to salvage some of his pride by ‘letting Bart get some training in’ whenever he needed a breather. It also helped that Bart would do the same thing whenever he got tired.  

That back and forth continued until they finally had their victory and Ted declared he needed a break and was going to bring back some food.

Before Jaime could follow him, Bart begged, “One more round?”

Jaime glanced at Ted who waved him back to the training ring.

“Alright,” Jaime said, smiling and crouching into a defensive posture.

Bart did the same.

The two of them fell into an easy rhythm. Jaime would lunge forward with a punch and Bart would dance out of the way. Then Bart would jab at his side and Jaime would sidestep before lunging again.

But the fourth or fifth repetition, instead of dancing to the side Bart ducked, sweeping his leg and knocking Jaime off of his feet.

“Got ya, hermano,” Bart laughed holding out his hand to Jaime.

Jaime took his hand and smiled, “Good job.”

As soon as Jaime was back on his feet they started again. This time Bart made the first attack, running at Jaime who blocked his attack and countered, forcing Bart back.

“You don’t have to go easy on me,” Jaime said with a smirk.

Bart grinned, “Have it your way.”

He rushed Jaime again, and again Jaime side stepped. Bart wheeled around to face Jaime. And Jaime rushed Bart, aiming for his shoulder again.

However this time Bart delayed in dodging. Jaime saw Bart’s eyes flit back to him and then widen. Followed shortly by Bart stumbling backwards and falling on his butt.

“Dude,” Jaime said offering him a hand, “keep your eyes in the ring.”

“Right,” Bart said taking it.

After standing Bart took two large steps backwards and bounced in place.

Jaime crouched again. He could see Bart still standing in the same spot, almost bouncing before he rushed Bart.

But this time Bart didn’t move at all, or even seem to notice him.

At the last second before his fist make contact with Bart’s shoulder Jaime threw himself to the side falling onto the mat and sliding.

In his head he could hear Khaji Da chittering.

“Yeah Yeah, laugh it up.”

“Jaime,” Ted said, his voice coming from somewhere behind him, “when you’re bored with laying on the floor come here.”

Jaime sat up and looked to where he heard Ted. And there, in the Beetle Cave he could see a table set up. It had several silver and blue balloons connected to it, each with ‘-22’ written on them with sharpie.  It also had a blue cake shaped like a scarab with three lit novelty candles, a dash followed by two ‘2’s’, a box with a blue bow stuck on top and an envelope.

Bart extended a hand to Jaime looking at the table smiling.

“One good thing about losing my powers it that cake lasts much longer,” He joked.

Jaime blinked. “How did you even know?”

“I got a text from an unlisted number.” Ted said with a shrug.

 _[Making memories.]_ Khaji Da chirped.

Jaime couldn’t stop the grin from forming as he walked over to the table, nor did he want to.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

Ted patted his shoulder. “I will say, shopping for the kid who can disappear any day to go back to the future is difficult.”

Jaime took the envelope that Ted handed him. He opened it, and pulled out a card. On the cover was a dung beetle with the quote ‘ _only the best shit for you’._ And inside were several lines written in Ted’s handwriting. The first was ‘Happy Birthday Jaime’ and the rest were-

“Numbers?”

Ted nodded. “Make sure to memorize them. They’re your new bank account.”

“I-”

Ted patted his shoulder again. “If everything works out like you want, that should have grown quite well when you shift back. Plus you’ll get a portion of the proceeds added whenever I make an invention that was inspired by seeing Khaji Da work.”

Jaime blinked back tears. “Thank you.”

But Bart didn’t wait for the somber moment to pass, he pushed the box towards Jaime and said, “gift next.”

Jaime obliged him and removed the lid, bow and all, from the box. Inside was a single high tech glove, that Jaime could see, even before picking it up, was slightly too small for him.

“Consider it a dual gift,” Ted said prompting Jaime to look up at him, “Technically it’s for Bart, but Bart getting his powers back keeps them out of the hands of Reverse Flash, and from summoning the Reach.”

Jaime carefully handed it to Bart, who took it with wide eyes.

“Crash.” Bart whispered.

“Indeed,” Jaime confirmed, “once Nightwing’s ‘source’ finishes tracking down Thad, you’ll get your powers back and we will be set.”

Jaime grinned, Bart called for a toast with cake, and Ted’s wrist buzzed.

He glanced down and said. “Incoming news alert, you kids want to watch?”

“Sure,” Bart answered in time with Jaime’s nod.

As Ted turned on the television at the far side of the cave, Bart handed Jaime a slice of cake.

Jaime dropped it.

All he could focus on was the Ambassadors smug face on the screen. He was smiling, shaking hands with the general secretary of the UN.

Jaime couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t scream or cry. All he could do was watch as the world came tumbling down, and every loss he had ever suffered was reaffirmed.

  
  
  



	6. Friends, Old and New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything changes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Weirdowhotalkstoofast (babblingweirdnonsense on tumblr) for letting me brainstorm ideas and providing support during the writing process.

Nighting didn’t have a mole in the Light.

He had two.

Aqualad and Artemis. They had come to the team with intel about the Light’s upcoming summit with the Reach, and a plan to infiltrate it, protecting Earth in the process.

Alpha squad was led by Aqualad. Their goal was to infiltrate the summit and capture incriminating evidence against the Light that they could use the expose their deeds for the world. Jaime knew if didn’t matter if the Light was stopped, not as long as the Reach continued with their invasion plan. But Aqualad thought, and both Khaji Da and Nightwing agreed, that publicly exposing the Reach’s partner would make the planet much less enticing for them.

Beta squad was tasked with making sure the biggest benefit that Earth offered the Reach was never fully realized by them. Beta was lead by Artemis and involved involved infiltrating the Reach ship with Bart. He would then grab Thad with the glove Ted had made him, and not only get back his powers, but also prevent the Reach from learning about the speedforce.

However even if both squads completed their mission, that didn’t mean that the Earth was safe. Sure the Reach wouldn’t invade, but _a resource falling into enemy hands is a resource best disposed of_. So it was Gamma squad’s job to make sure that even that retaliation would be too costly for the Reach to consider.

It was Gamma squad that Aqualad had been most worried about. He trusted M’gann’s ability to lead the squad. He trusted Ted and Jaime to have her back and take down whoever the Light was planning on offering to the Reach to be the first Earth Infiltrator, before they ever made it to the summit. He trusted that she could impersonate them, and then at a convenient time reveal herself to be a ‘Green Lantern’ in disguise. With everything else that would be going wrong for the Reach he trusted that they would buy her threatening war with the Reach if they took any more action against the Earth. And he trusted that they would take her offer of cutting them loose if they leave the planet completely alone now, because so far everything was the fault of the Light.

The thing Aqualad was worried about was the fact that the Light kept who they were offering as a closely guarded secret. And as the day approached it did not seem likely that he would be able to find out who it would be.

Fortunately he didn’t need to, as Jaime and Khaji Da already knew who it was.

Tommy Terror.

But Jaime’s knowledge of history didn’t stop the anxious feeling as he hid with Ted and M’gann in a deserted section of land that Tommy would have to cross if he was going to the summit tonight. All he could think of was Ted’s lessons on the butterfly effect until he made visual contact with Tommy Terror and his League of Shadows handler dressed head to toe in identity concealing black tactical gear.

“ _Hermano,_ ” Jaime whispered, “are you ready?”

He felt a shudder radiate through his spine as Tommy Terror approached.

_[Affirmative. I will not let you down this time.]_

“Khaji Da, you have _never_ let me down.”

Khaji Da buzzed against his spine. It might be the last time Jaime ever got to feel that, and he relished every millisecond.

Jaime flashed Ted and M’gann a thumbs up. They both nodded in return.

Without hesitation, the three of them pounced as one. Ted focused on neutralizing the League of Shadows handler, while both M’gann and Jaime attacked Tommy himself.

When the fight started, Jaime could feel the lingering fear from Khaji Da. It manifested as increased times to summon weapons or change configurations. Still, Jaime couldn’t help but be proud, Khaji Da had improved greatly compared to their last fight against Tommy.

Jaime had also greatly improved compared to their last fight. Now he could duck under Tommy’s punches, and sidestep his grabs. Buying Khaji Da all the time that they needed to finish creating their weapons.

When Tommy finally caught Jaime in a grapple, Khaji Da was ready. The blast they produced sent Tommy toppling to the ground with a thud.  

Ted, now mostly dressed in the black tactical gear he had taken from the tied up handler, collared the unconscious Tommy before tying him up as well. Both men were then placed onto the Bug that was sent on autopilot to Belle Reve.

Ted slipped on the final pieces of the handlers outfit, and M’gann shifted to the form of Tommy.

Jaime took the time to stare up at the thin crescent moon in the sky.

“You did good,” he said softly. “You did so very good. I’m proud to have been your partner, Khaji Da.”

_[And I yours Jaime Reyes.]_

“Kid, an opinion before you disappear.” Ted called.

Jaime turned to him with a simile, choosing to focus on Ted’s optimism instead of his own worry that he wasn’t disappearing because this still wasn’t enough to stop the Reach. “Make it quick.”

“M’gann and I can’t decide on which Lantern she should become. Now I’m thinking Guy Gardner, his combativeness is legendary,  coming in angry that he can’t declare war on the Reach yet-”

Everything changed.

Jaime shot up from his bed.

He didn’t recognize the room, small, white, and undecorated. It was filled with boxes that had his name written in sharpie on the side, and a single desk that had a laptop and phone blinking on it.

“Hello?” Jaime called.

There was only silence.

Total silence.

His heart pounded in his chest. He knew that this was the time jump, that he was back in his time, his new timeline. But he couldn’t imagine that this would be a room he lived in.

Unless something happened.

Unless despite fixing the timeline, something else happened to his family.

Jaime pushed his head into his hands.

He had all his memories of this time, he could find out for sure. But each time he thought of his parents, his sister, he just saw the orbital attack decimating his house.

That couldn’t have happened.

But it would explain why he had recently moved into this place.

Jaime rushed out of the- his room.

He was in a small apartment. There was a little kitchen with several pots that needed washing in the sink, a tiny bathroom that Jaime couldn’t believe fit the toilet, shower, and sink. A second bedroom, with an empty, neatly made bed and bare desk. And a small living room, with a television, and blanket topped couch in the center of the room, and several boxes stacked in the corner, topped with eight stacked textbooks each with a yellow used sticker on the spine.

There were no pictures on the wall no personal items. And his worst fear kept gnawing. He was alone, totally alone. He might have changed the timeline but everyone he loved was now dead or lost in Reach space a million light years away.  

Jaime ran back into his room, not bothering to shut the door behind him. He stood, shaking at the foot of his bed.

He tried to breathe. He tried to slow down and remember what had happened. But his memories were a jumbled mess and he just- couldn’t. He didn’t know where to start.

At least not until his phone buzzed.

Jaime picked it up as fast as he possibly could. But when he saw ‘Ma work’ listed it took him two tries to stop shaking long enough to answer the phone.

When he finally got the phone to his ear, his throat was so dry he couldn’t get a greeting out.

“ _I’m sorry sweetie, did I wake you?”_

“I’m fine.” Jaime forced out. He could hear his voice shake, feel tears welling up behind his closed eyelids.

“” _You don’t sound fine. Mijo what’s wrong?”_

Jaime was shaking harder, he couldn’t stop the tears now.

“Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s great,” Jaime said, trying to not sound like a blubbering mess so his mom wouldn’t be worried about him right before her nightshift. “It’s just good to hear your voice.”

Right, nightshift. It paid more which was why she started it when Jaime was accepted to Ivy University. Even with his full scholarship, the city was still expensive to live in. Both she and his dad had decided that this would be the best choice, so that they had the funds for both his and Milagro’s schooling.

“ _Jaime what’s wrong? Is Tye there?”_

“No.”

Tye’s apartment. Saving money. That’s why he was here, at the apartment Tye had gotten from the team. Well the Justice League backers of the team, not the young superheros, Virgil, Asami, Ed, he had been introduced to after his own powers activated. Jaime wasn’t supposed to know their names, but Tye wasn’t one to keep secrets like that. Not from him.

Jaime loved hanging out with the four of them. Pizza and video games on saturday nights, after Virgil and Ed conspired to get him zeta tube access. Of course that was before Tye converted the game room to Jaime’s bedroom, one of Jaime’s parents’ conditions for allowing Jaime to move in.

“ _It’s going to be alright I promise. You hear me?”_

“Yeah I do. Yeah it is.”

Everything, everything was good, great. Jaime just wished he could stop his hands from shaking and tear from rolling down his cheeks.

“Don’t worry I’m fine. Everything’s fine.”

“ _Alright,”_ she responded, not sounding convinced at all _. “Did you and Tye have any trouble getting all the books you need?”_

“We got them all.”

Tye was starting Ivy University with him. And yesterday, they had trawled the bookstore looking for the cheapest used version of each of their required textbooks.

“ _You can call me anytime, you know that right?”_

“I know.”

Their goodbyes were swift, and Jaime could hear the hesitance in his mother’s voice before she hung up.

But she had nothing to worry about, Jaime had never been more fine in his life. Everything was perfect.

Well almost everything. He was already starting to miss the voice in his head, the weight on his back.

But that was the sacrifice that they had talked about, that they had decided was worth making to see the world happy, and to see the stars partially drowned out by the lights of Ivy town, shining out his window.

There was a time he never thought that this view would be possible. Now he wondered which stars represented Reach space. He didn’t know, but as seconds turned into minutes he couldn’t pull his eyes away.

At least not until he heard voices outside of the apartment’s door.

“Dude,” a voice Jaime recognized as Virgil said. “He did not call his mom to call you for a breakup.”

Jaime heard a huff, a key in the latch, and the slow creak of hinges. He stared at the opening door, frozen, the images of Tye dead in that cell echoing through his mind.

“Jaime?” Tye’s voice was soft, cautious and all Jaime needed to be able to move again.

It took him two steps to reach Tye and fling his arms around him. And Jaime just hung onto him, tears streaming down his face.

Tye returned the hug, hands rubbing Jaime’s back. “I’m here, I’m here. What happened?”

“Nothing,” Jaime whispered into Tye’s shoulder, not letting go. And it was true, nothing had happened. The Reach invasion didn’t happen. His death, everyone’s death, didn’t happen.

Tye didn’t let go either. “Bad dream?”

“Something like that.”

Tye pulled Jaime closer but looked towards Virgil. “Can you cover tonight’s patrol? I- I need to be here.”

“No problem dude,” Virgil said softly. “And Tye? I told you so.”

Jaime was vaguely aware of Virgil leaving the apartment, of Tye moving one hand to close and lock the door, and then of being lead over to the couch.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Tye asked, sitting next to Jaime on the couch, throwing his arm around Jaime’s shoulders while Jaime curled against his chest.

Jaime shook his head slightly. He could hear Tye’s heart, and each beat make the past he had changed feel so much farther away.

“Anything I can do?”

“Just be here.” Jaime mumbled.

Tye pulled him closer. “I’m here. Always and forever, all you need to do is ask.”

For one moment it felt like every bad memory hid. He was the Jaime who grew up here, grew up free.

“That's so romantic,” Jaime teased.

“I reserve the right to be romantic with my boyfriend”

Boyfriend. Jaime couldn't help but smile. That explained a few things about his parents’ conditions for moving in.

He shut his eyes and adjusted himself again Tye. Awkward confession, first date, second, there were so many memories, both wonderfully new and completely familiar dancing around in his head that it was all he could do to try to remember each and every second.

Jaime wasn’t quite sure when he fell asleep but when he woke up to knocking, he was still in Tye’s arms. The blanket on the back of the couch had been pulled down to cover the both of them.

The knock sounded again.

Tye shifted and Jaime pressed himself against Tye grumbling, “What happened to forever?”

“It’ll resume after I get the door,” Tye assured him.

Jaime let Tye up, and then stretched out on the couch.

The knock sounded again, the raps closer together almost frantic.

Tye opened the door and a red blur entered the apartment.

“I heard you had to leave patrol early. What was the emergency?”

The voice sounded familiar but Jaime couldn’t place it.

“Flash, sir, everything’s fine.”

“Is he here?” Flash asked and raced to and back from the bedrooms with a gust on wind. “Where is he?”

Tye stepped protectively in front of the couch and Jaime realized two things.

The first was that even though Tye had cleared everything about Jaime’s room situation, he was well aware that there could still be members who would rather he didn’t take the risk of a civilian being in league housing, both to help keep secret identities secret, and to prevent kidnappings.

The second thing Jaime realized was that forty years could change a lot of things.

Jaime sat up. “Bart chill, you’re scaring my boyfriend.”

Before Jaime could blink, Bart had wrapped him in a hug, pulled him off the couch and spun him twice.

“What’s going on?” Tye asked.

“Jaime always said exactly 40 years, and Ted and I figured-”

“Is Ted here?” Jaime cut Bart off.

Bart’s mouth snapped shut. And Jaime saw the concern creep over his face.

Jaime’s own stomach twisted. A lot could change in forty years.

A second knock sounded at the door.

Tye looked at the door then back at Bart.

“You left him down in the parking lot didn’t you?” He accused.

“I left him down in the parking lot,” Bart admitted.

Jaime opened the door the door to see Ted, hair completely gray with deep laugh lines around his mouth, waiting with a box and an envelope in his hand.

“Did Bart already spill why we’re here?” Ted asked.

“Just something about forty years.” Tye answered, “What’s going on? What happened last night Jaime?”

“Long story very, very, short. Last night I snapped back into this time.”

“Time travel?” Tye asked.

“Time travel,” Ted confirmed. “You can check the League files. Look for the Reach, or the Light.”

Tye turned to Jaime, “is that what happened last night?”

“Yeah. I was processing the memory integration,” Jaime said with a sigh. “I still am.”

“It wasn’t instantaneous?” Ted asked

“No,” Jaime answered, and seeing the look that Ted gave him he continued. “And it wasn’t when the Warrior did his travel either. He went back about an hour and it took me minutes to catch up. Now it’s eighteen years.”

Ted grinned and offered Jaime the envelope. “Well then I don’t feel bad about bringing this.”

Jaime took the envelope and opened it. It wasn’t a square envelope with a greeting card this time, but a long envelope with a plastic window for the address.

Jaime blinked. He couldn’t believe the numbers that he saw. They would pay for his college expenses, all of them. And Milagro’s collage . And Tye’s. With many more colleges left over.

“What?” Tye asked.

“His bank account.” Ted explained. “From forty years ago. With additions for each invention-”

That Ted had made by remembering his armor. Jaime’s mood broke. He sat down on the couch hard, putting his head in his hands. Tye put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed. Bart pushed the box that Ted brought into his lap.

“Which is why we brought this,” Bart said. “I made sure to grab them when I was on the Reach ship.”

Bart forced a plain white box into his hands. He could feel a weight, a warmth, through the thin walls. The lid felt like it took forever to slide off the top.

There was a bright blue scarab sitting in the center of box. Jaime could barely make them out through his tears. They were so close, but they felt so very far away.

When Jaime spoke, he couldn’t keep his voice from shaking. “If we fuse again, the Reach will know.”

Ted looked at Jaime. “If you remember when the Warrior changed time, then I’m assuming that the Warrior will now also be remembering what was gained by invading Earth.”

Jaime’s eyes widened. His breath caught in his throat.

“But this time we’ll be ready,” Ted continued. “And if you want to help-”

Jaime looked at the box, looked at Tye.

Tye nodded at him. “You do what you think is best.”

Jaime smiled. He picked up and held the scarab gently in his hands.

It wasn’t a hard choice.

“KHAJI DA!”

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man, I'm glad to have finished this story. And in case you are wondering, yes that scarab is definitely Khaji Da and they have their full memory of their time with Jaime. 
> 
> As for this universe, I rather like it. It is a really fun one to play around in and it may be one I'll come back to in the future with one shots and the like. We will see how the writing muses move me. :)
> 
> Thank you all for coming on this journey with me, it was a pleasure to have all of you as readers and I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.


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